Cell Phone Hub

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Well, here’s one we didn’t see coming: it seems that AT&T has wised up to the fact that Americans like their Symbian (well, at least a few of ‘em do, anyway) and wants to keep S60-equipped options on the table. Yes, granted, AT&T is a founding member of the Symbian Foundation, but the proof is in the pudding, and the last Nokia smartphone to land there was the N75 in May of last year — an eternity by mobile standards. More recently, the N75 grew up, got sexy, picked up some brushed metal, and emerged in Europe as the 6550; now, it’s surprisingly and unexpectedly been retooled as the 6650 for North American 3G spectrum. It’s got a 2.2-inch QVGA primary display, 160 x 128 secondary, 2-megapixel cam, AT&T Navigator (which means GPS), push-to-talk support, and HSDPA 850 / 1900 to compliment quadband EDGE. We don’t know exactly when it’s coming, but for S60 fans who cringe at the thought of having to blow several hundred on an unlocked set every time they want some fresh hardware, this should be welcome news.

[Thanks, Al and Oscar M.]

Filed under: Cellphones

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

We’ve been waiting to get our smudgy digits on RIM’s BlackBerry Bold, and finally, Canada’s Rogers Wireless gave us a helping hand. While we put together a proper review and gather our thoughts, Engadget Mobile’s whipped up a giant gallery of Bold poses to keep you busy. Follow the link to get at the goodies!

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

We haven’t heard a whole lot from M2E Power since it burst onto the scene last year with promises of powering your gadgets with movment, but the company now says that it’s made some real progress with its wonder device, and it’s claiming that it’ll actually be available sometime next year. According to the company, the charger will let you get about 30 to 60 minutes of talk time on your cellphone after six hours of cumulative motion, and you’ll of course be able to use it with other gadgets as well. As you can see above, the charger unit can also simply be plugged into an outlet to be topped off if you need a slightly quicker fix. What’s more, M2E also says that it has had discussions with some unspecified cellphone makers to build the generator directly into a phone, although it says it’ll take “at least two years” before something like that is commercially available.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

You’ve seen the review, now get ready as Nokia just announced a Q4, North American release for its high-end, N96. That means localized 850/1900 HSDPA radios to go along with its GSM quad-band set, 2.8-inch QVGA display, 16GB of storage, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, WiFi, and assisted GPS. Interestingly, there’s no mention of mobile TV which makes it seem that they’ve scrapped DVB-H entirely without a mediaFLO replacement. How much? $895, that’s how much — sorry you asked?

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia promised us two new handsets today, and just as we heard last week, it’s the N85 and N79. Not a lot of surprises with the N85 since it popped in the FCC database a couple weeks ago and started appearing in the wild: 2.6-inch AMOLED screen, GPS, five megapixel cam, N-Gage compatibility, 8GB of microSDHC storage, WiFi, and a 28-hour music playback battery life. The N79 replaces the N78, similarly bumping the cam to the big five em-pees with a dual-LED flash, GPS, 4GB microSDHC storage, WiFi, swappable back covers, and a 24-hour music playback battery life. Should be out in the UK as of next month, but we’re hoping to see these hit our fair shores posthaste. N79 pictured after the break.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Nokia launches the N79 and N85

Filed under: Cellphones

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about iPhone 3G reception issues. Whether they exist or not is largely irrelevant in a world dominated by sound-bite driven perceptions. Nevertheless, some industrious Swedes decided to apply a little scientific method to the argument and found something interesting: the iPhone 3G performed just as well (or just as poorly, depending upon your mood) as a Nokia N73 and Sony Ericsson P1 when compared head-to-head in a mobile communications test chamber. The test was conducted by real-life antenna engineers just like those camera-fumbling souls contracted by the FCC. Of course, who’s going to let a few facts stand in the way of contrary opinion and litigation, eh?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

We can’t help but feel the BlackBerry Bold 9000’s much-anticipated launch ended up being just a tad bit anti-climactic. Maybe it’s a Canada thing, or maybe we’re just haters. Or maybe we hate Canada. While we mull that over, you might as well have a look at CrackBerry.com’s video unboxing of the new phone, complete with some comparison shots and, um, unboxing. Oh, there’s an iPhone versus near the end, so don’t go anywhere! Video is after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9000 unboxed on video

Filed under: Cellphones

[Image courtesy of Zedomax, thanks Akshay]

Filed under: Cellphones

Handset lovers in some regions of the world not named North America have been enjoying the luxuries of Nokia’s E71 for some time now, but those of us waiting around for a version compatible with 3G here on this side of the planet have just recently been able to indulge. Make no mistake, though — this piece of QWERTY goodness ain’t cheap. Ringing up at right around 500 bones, USers have the right to have some pretty high expectations, and we’re here to ask if those expectations have been met. Are you satisfied with the ultrathin smartphone? Is the display up to snuff? How’s that keyboard? Are you kosher with the white keys? What else would you do to improve upon the E71? Leave it all in comments below.